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Adverse Possession & Land Titles Conversion Qualified Lands

A recently released Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision clarifies adverse possession claims with respect to property registered in Land Titles Conversion Qualified (LTCQ). The lands in dispute were converted to LTCQ on December 14, 1998. Here, “the critical time period is the time prior to the conversion of title into Qualified Land Titles”.

On October 22, 2004, the plaintiff purchased 322 King Street, Peterborough. The plaintiff had previously been a tenant of the property for a number of years. On December 22, 2000 the defendant purchased 320 King Street, Peterborough, which lies to the east of the plaintiff’s property.

The plaintiff asserted that the defendant no longer had a right-of-way over the easterly 8 feet of the plaintiff’s land. Additionally, the plaintiff asserted that possessory title had been established with respect to a triangular strip of land on the west side of the defendant’s property which had been enclosed by a chain-link fence, and a 6 inch encroachment on the defendant’s property caused by a garage constructed on the plaintiff’s land.

As of the date of registration, LTCQ lands are subject to:

the limitations, qualifications and reservations contained in subsection 44(1) of the Land Titles Act (Ontario) save and except for the provisions of subparagraph 11 (subdivision control), subparagraph 14 (dower rights);

the rights of any person who would, but for the Land Titles Act (Ontario), be entitled to the Lands or any part of it through length of adverse possession, prescription, misdescription or boundaries settled by convention; and

any lease to which subsection 70(2) of the Registry Act (Ontario), attached hereto, applies.

Although not discussed here, as of the date of registration, LTCQ lands are not subject to provincial succession duties and escheats or forfeiture to the Crown.

“Section 51(2) of the Land Titles Act preserves a possessory title if the length of possession that is necessary has elapsed by the time the conversion in the Land Title system takes place”. Therefore, the plaintiff had to establish that prior to December 14, 1998, the requirements of possessory title were satisfied.

To establish a claim of possessory title, the plaintiff must prove:

actual possession for the statutory period;

that such possession was with the intention of excluding the true owner; and

discontinuance of possession for the statutory period by the true owner.

An affidavit dated October 21, 1998, provided by the now deceased previous owner of the plaintiff’s land stated that:

the garage was constructed and used prior to the previous owner’s acquisition of title to the land in 1939. During the occupation of the previous owner the garage was used without interruption or interference;

the owners or owner of the defendant’s property had maintained a fence in the same location as the chain-link fence continuously for a period greater than 30 years;

that no part of the 8 foot right-of-way had never been used by occupants or other permitted users of the defendant’s land.

The court found the statements made in the affidavit to be reliable despite the inability of the evidence to be cross examined. The court also found that this evidence demonstrated that the garage and fence had been in place for at least 10 years prior to conversion into the Land Titles system. No evidence to the contrary was provided by the defence. The court granted a declaration that the defendant’s land was subject to the encumbrances of the plaintiff.

The court found for the plaintiff with respect to the defendant’s right-of-way over an 8 foot portion of the plaintiff’s land. The court was satisfied that prior to LTCQ registration the predecessors in title to the defendant’s land had abandoned the right. This was demonstrated through the affidavit evidence and the location of the garage and fence that blocked the use of the right-of-way. In the alternative, the court also noted that the right-of-way was granted in 1913 and ceased to be enforceable 40 years after its original registration.